East Ramapo needs unity, increased aid

On the day this was published, I attended East Ramapo's two graduation programs.

According to Rockland county executive hopeful David Fried, "an East Ramapo diploma just isn't worth the same as a diploma from any other district in Rockland."

I respectfully disagree. In fact, there is good reason to argue that an East Ramapo diploma is worth more than a diploma from any other district in Rockland. Our students need to work harder than those in other parts of the county, since we have greater financial challenges in our district, and those financial issues impact our education programs.

While that is clearly not a good thing, and we need to work to change that reality, the fact remains that students who graduate from East Ramapo schools are success stories, and those successes should be celebrated, not belittled or demeaned.

Fried did get one thing right, however. He stated that "public schools are a reflection of a community's values [and] its priorities." That's particularly true in East Ramapo. Our district is the poorest in Rockland. But we are still focused on quality education.

We need to move away from seeing our educational glass as being half empty. We need to abandon name-calling and criticism, and unite to encourage our elected officials to provide the kind of state educational funding our District needs and our students deserve.

We need to be optimists. Once we get the proper funding - without strings, without conditions, and without layers of requirements - we can look forward to many more graduation ceremonies, and even greater stories of success for all of our children.